Russell Turner Named NABC District 9 Coach of the Year

UCI's Russell Turner has been named NABC District 9 Coach of the Year.

Mar 27, 2014

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine's Russell Turner has been named 2014 NABC UPS Division I District 9 Coach of the Year.

Turner, in his fourth year at UCI, was selected in voting by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which has 25 districts across the country. He is the first from UCI to earn the award since Pat Douglass in 2001.

Turner guided the Anteaters to the program's first Big West Conference regular-season title in 12 years this season with a 13-3 mark in league play. He was named Big West Coach of the Year.

Turner has led UCI to back-to-back, 20-win seasons and a total of 44 victories over the past two years. He also has guided the 'Eaters to postseason play the last two seasons, including the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) earlier this month.

UCI was 23-12 this season and won 16 of its last 21 games. The 23 victories tied the second-most for a season in Anteater history.